Suspension mechanism for overhead swinging doors



y 1952 J. A. MCFARLANE SUSPENSION MECHANISM FOR OVERHEAD SWINGING DOORS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed March 1, 1948 INVENTORI /Z ffcfc'zrlafle mm July 15, 1952 J. A. MCFARLANE SUSPENSION MECHANISM FOR OVERHEAD SWINGING DOORS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed March 1, 1948 IN V EN TOR.

ffljlcf'arlaize Patented July 15, 1952 UNITED STATES PATE T germs.

SUSPENSION MECHANISM FOR- OVERHEAD SWINGING DOORS John A. McFarlane, Bellflower, Calif. 7'' Application March 1, 1948, Serial No; 12,347

The present invention'relate's to improvements in operating mechanisms for overhead swinging 'doors such as are ordinarily used on garages and similar building structures.

In a common type of overhead swinging door mechanism in commercial use at the present time, a single helical spring, at each side of e the door opening, is depended upon to counter-balance the weight of the door and to maintain it in open position. But since the tension of the spring is greatest when the door is in closed position and almost negligible in open door position, it is found that outside influence, such as wind pressure, may and frequently does overcome the spring tension and is sufficient to Slam the door into closed position. This is a most objectionable condition and, where children are playing in and about the door opening, positively dangerous.

Itv is .the general object of the invention to provide a simple and inexpensive door operating mechanism which is convenient to manipulate and which takes up very little space. More particularly it is the object of the invention to provide a spring actuated door mechanism which is mountable on the jambs of the door opening near the upper ends thereof so as to leave the lower portion of the jambs entirely unobstructed. Another object is to provide a door operating mechanism in which, while the spring during most of the door opening movement functions Substantially like the conventional spring, mechanism is provided for increasing the tension of the slackened spring as fully open position is approached and reached. Another object is to provide convenient means for adjusting the spring tension of the door operating mechanism. Still another object is to provide a device which may be installed in and may operate successfully within structures having very little clearance between the head beam of the door opening and the ceiling of the building.

These and other objects, as well as the many advantageous features of the invention, will be better understood from the following detail description and reference is invited to the accompanying drawings in which a preferred form of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevational view of the front wall of a garage having a door opening therein and with the upper portion of the wall partly broken away in order better to illustrate the position of the device of the invention relative to the door opening;

Fig. 2 is a substantially corresponding frag- 6 Claims. (Cl. 16-163) mounted thereon.

mentary view showing aportion of the door panel and of the device of the invention as they appear when the door is in closed position;

Fig. 3 is aside elevational view taken fro'mthe opposite side of the door opening and with. the near portion of the wall broken away for the sake of clearness; I

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view substantially in agreement with Fig..3and showing the door in partly closed position; and 1 Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the innersurface of one of the door jambs and the portion of the door adjacent to this jamb, together with the operating mechanism as it appears when Referring in the first instance to Fig. 1 of .the drawings, the numeral I denotes the jamb of a doorway, nearest the observer, and the upper part of this jamb is broken away in orderrto better show the operating mechanism of the device.

. The jamb 2, at the far side of the door, is shown rising above thejamb 'l to support a head beam 3, all as usual in practice. A bracket 4 is secured to the inner surfaceof the jamb l, as by means of screws or bolts 5, 6 seated in'thei flange of this bracket, which latter rests against the inner .surface, of the jamb. The bracket is perforatedrto form a bearing for a pivot 1, to one end of which is rigidly secured a circular disc 8. A-linkl9:is mounted on the opposite end of the pivot and it is rigidly secured in position thereon in any suitable manner, as by means of a set screw [0. The bracket 4 is, at the. upper corner thereof, perforated to receive a pivot I5, to one end of which is rigidly secured aspring drum [6 and, a link [1 is fastened to the-other end of the pivotpas by means of a set screw l8. The positions of the, set

. screws 10 and I8 are best shown in Fig. 3.

importance of which is hereinafter furtherexplained, it being at present thought sufficient to state that this toggle connection combines with the link 9'to support the door panel and to maintain it in the elevated position indicated in Fig. 1.

Astud 30 is mounted in the disc 8. to .support a short arm 3| which carriesat the lqwer end thereof a projection 32 on which one end of a coil spring 33 is hung. The inner end of this coil spring is in any conventional manner (not shown) rigidly secured to the pivot [5. A stud 35 of the disc maintains the arm in the upright position of Fig. 1 against the tension of the spring. The tension of the spring is adjusted by loosening the set screw I8, whereupon the spring drum may be manually rotated until the proper tension is obtained. The set screw is then again tightened to maintain the parts in the relatively adjusted position. When the door panel is pulled forward in the direction of the arrow of .Fig. 1 to close the door, it is important to notethat the spring drum is rotated in the same direction thereby to increase the tension of the spring as required in order nearly to counter-balance the weight of the door in closed position. But since the disc 8 is rotated inthe same direction to release the stud 32 for movement by the spring toward the spring drum, it is seen that this increase of'spring tension is substantially counterbalanced until the arm reaches the position indicated in dotted outline in Fig. 1. The initial opening movement of the door is thereby greatly facilitated. Further closing movement'of the door again increases the spring tension.

The toggle joint, consisting of the links IT, 24, is necessary in order for the doorpanel to clear the beam 3 when the door is swung into closed 'of the door panel downward sufliciently to clear the beam. But while for the foregoing reasons it .is essential to provide such toggle connection,

it also becomes necessary to provide means for preventing collapse of the toggle joint when the door approaches fully open position and for maintaining the inner end of the door panel in the elevated position shown in Figs. '1 and 3; This may be accomplished by extending the link I! upwardly to form an outwardly curved arm 21 which, as the door panel approaches fully open position, moves into contact with the flange 28 o'f'the bracket 20, firmly to maintain the door.elevated. When the'door again is swung outward to move it into closed position, it is found that this arm commences to move away from the flange of the bracket to aposition substantially as indicated in .Fig. 4. When closed position is reached, it again approaches but does not quite contact the flange of the bracket. In other words, the arm '21 does not in any way interfere with the operation of the mechanism and only contacts the flange of the bracket when the door reaches fully open position.

It is to be understood, of course, that one operating mechanism is provided for each side of the'door and that except for the fact that they "are made right and left, both mechanisms may be exactly alike. 1

It is seen from the foregoing description that I have provided a very simple door operating mechanism which may quickly be put in position and which is convenient to operate. In order to facilitate mounting of the device in position on the door and door frame, it may be found desirable to lock the members of the device togthefin the folded position indicated in Fig. 2,

and this may readily be done by cutting an opening through the bracket 4 in continued alignment with one of the perforations of the disc 8. In order to lock the parts of the device together in folded position, it is then merely required to insert a pin or bolt through the perforation of the disc and the aligned perforation of the bracket substantially as indicated at 39 in Fig. 2. When so, interlocked, there is no danger of the parts becoming displaced in shipment or during installations and the spring may remain partly under tension during such periods so that it will not become accidentally displaced from the spring drum. When the device is fully installed, it is merely required to remove this bolt and to wind the spring to release the mechanism for operation.

While I have hereinbefore described a preferred form of the invention, I do not wish thereby to be limited to the exact arrangements, proportions and shapes illustrated in the drawings, but reserve the right to embody such modifications as will fall within the scope of the claims hereto appended.

I claim:

1. Operating mechanism for an overhead swinging door comprising, a bracket mountable on the door panel at the side edge thereof, a bracket mountable on the adjacent door jamb, said jamb bracket taking a position adjacent the said door panel bracket when the door is in closed position, pivots seated for rotation in said brackets, a link interconnecting the lower ends of the brackets, pivotally joined links forming a shorter toggle linkage interconnecting the upper ends of the brackets, spring means on the jamb bracket connected to move said toggle linkage to swing the door panel into open position, and an extension on said toggle linkage contacting the panel bracket during the door opening movement to support-the panel in elevated position.

2. Operating mechanism for an overhead swinging door comprising, a bracket mountable on the door panel at the side edge thereof, a

bracket mountable on the adjacent door jamb,

said door jamb bracket taking a position adjacent the said door panel bracket when the door is in closed position, a pivot in the upper end of each bracket, a pivot in the 'lower end of each bracket, a link rigidly secured to the lower pivots to interconnect the lower ends of the brackets, pivotally joined links forming a shorter toggle linkage rigidly secured to the upper pivots to interconnect the upper ends of the brackets, a spring drum rigidly mounted on the upper pivot of the jamb bracket, a disc rigidly mounted on the lower pivot thereof, and a spring extending from the pivot of the drum to said disc, the tension of the spring'urging rotation of the pivot to swing the door panel into elevated position.

3. Operating mechanism for an overhead swinging door comprising, a bracket mountable on the door panel at the side edge thereof, a bracket mountable on the adjacent door jamb, said door jamb bracket taking a position adjacent said door'panel bracket when the door is in closed position, a pivot rotatable in the upper end of each bracket, a pivot rotatable in the lower end of each bracket, a link rigidly mounted on the lower pivots to interconnect the lower ends of the brackets, pivotally joined links forming a shorter toggle 'linkagerigidly secured to the upper pivots of the brackets to interconnect the upper ends thereof, a spring drum rigidly mounted on'the upper pivot of the jamb bracket,

a disc rigidly mounted on the lower pivot thereof, a spring extending from the pivot of said drum to the disc, the tension of said spring urging rotation of the pivots to swing the door panel into elevated position, and an extension on said toggle link for engaging the panel bracket to support the panel in its elevated position.

4. Operating mechanism for an overhead swinging door comprising, a bracket mountable on the door panel at the side edge thereof, a bracket mountable on the adjacent door jamb, said jamb bracket taking a position adjacent said door panel bracket when the door is in closed position, a pivot rotatably seated in the upper end of each bracket, a pivot rotatably seated in the lower end of each bracket, 2. link rigidly mounted on the lower pivots to interconnect the lower ends of the brackets, pivotally joined links forming a shorter toggle linkage rigidly secured to the upper pivots of the brackets to interconnect the upper ends thereof, a spring drum rigidly mounted on the upper pivot of the j amb bracket, a disc rigidly mounted on the lower pivot thereof, an arm pivotally hung on said disc, and a spring within said drum extending from the ivot of the drum to the free end of said arm, the tension of said spring urging rotation of the pivots to swing the door panel into elevated position.

5. Operating mechanism for an overhead swinging door comprising, a bracket mountable on the door panel at the side edge thereof, a bracket mountable on the adjacent door jamb, said door jamb bracket taking a position adjacent said door panel bracket when the door is in closed position, a pivot rotatably seated in the upper end of each bracket, a pivot rotatably seated in the lower end of each bracket, a link rigidly mounted on the lower pivots to interconnect the lower ends of the brackets, pivotally joined links forming a shorter toggle linkage rigidly mounted on the upper pivots of the brackets to interconnect the upper ends thereof, a spring drum rigidly mounted on the upper pivot of the jamb bracket, a disc rigidly mounted on the lower pivot thereof, an arm pivotally hung on the disc, a spring within said drum extending from the pivot of the drum to the free ends of said arm to urge rotation of the pivot to swing the door panel into open position, and a stud on the disc moving into engagement with said arm as the door panel approaches open position thereby to swing the arm to increase the tension of the spring.

6. Operating mechanism for an overhead swinging door comprising, a bracket mountable on the door panel at the side edge thereof, a bracket mountable on the adjacent door jamb, said jamb bracket taking a position adjacent the said door panel bracket when the door is in closed position, a pivot rotatably seated in the upper end of each bracket, a pivot rotatably seated in the lower end of each bracket, a link rigidly mounted on the lower pivots to interconnect the lower ends of the brackets, pivotally joined links forming a shorter toggle linkage rigidly mounted on the upper pivots of the brackets to interconnect the upper ends thereof, a spring drum rigidly mounted on the upper pivot of the jamb bracket, a disc rigidly mounted on the lower pivot thereof, a spring within said drum extending from the pivot of the drum to said disc, said spring urging rotation of the pivots to swing the door panel into elevated position, and means for locking said disc against rotation when the door is in closed position.

JOHN A. MCFARLANE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 586,476 Coats July 13, 1897 2,154,733 De Orlow Apr. 18, 1939 2,170,295 Ferris Aug. 22, 1939 2,259,819 Holmes Oct. 21, 1941 2,272,230 Van Voorhees Feb. 10, 1942 

